Airplane construction



Aug. 2, 1927.

M. SY RACUSA AIRPLANE CONS TRUCTI 0N Filed Jan. 14. 1926 Milli/lll.

.BY M

ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 2,;1927'.

UNITED STATES momma. sYnAcUsa, or cnIcAGo, mLrNoxs,

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application nica nanna-yy 14, 1926. serial no. 81,298.

.airplane propeller disposed adjacentv to the hub does not aid in moving the airplane forwardly, but instead acts as a resistance to the movement of the airplane through `the air.

The principal object of the invention is to provide an auxiliary propeller and mount this propeller' directly in front of the m active area of the larger propeller, whereby the small propeller will overcome Vthe re sistance of the inactive portion ofthe large propeller, thus increasing the speed of the airplane, economizing in fuel, and making the entire airplane more efficient.

A further objectvof the invention isto provide a device of tlie vtype described which may be readily attached to a standard -airplane engine andl propeller with but slight alterations being necessary in the latter.

A further object of the invention 1s to provide a device of the type described which yis simple in construction, durable and eilicient for the purpose-intended, and which is not likely to get out vof order easily.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specification, and the novel features of the invention will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming part of this application, in which- Figure 1 is a vertical section through the device, and y Figure 2 is a section along theIline 2 2 of Figure 1. a

In carrying out my invention, I make use of a crank shaft 1 of an engine and a propeller 2. The propeller 2 is mounted upon a hollow shaft 3, and this shaft is connected directly to the crank shaft 1 by means of stub shafts 4. It will therefore be seen that the propeller 2 will be turned by the crank shaft `1. It is obvious that anyv type of lmotor having a shaft could be used.

Figure 1 clearlysliows how I'mount an auxiliary propeller 5 upon a s haft 6 and dispose this propeller directly in front of ,the propeller 2. Thepropeller 51s very much smaller than the propeller 2, and is designed to cover the area directly 1n front of the propeller 2 that is not acted upon by the propeller 2. In other words, the auxiliary propeller 5 acts upon` the air in the area disposed adjacent to the hub of the large propeller and therefore overcomes the resistance of the portion of the large propeller disposed adjacent to the hub.

I have -found that a speeding up of the small propeller will make itv work morev efficiently, and therefore I have connected the shaft 6 to the crank shaft 1 through a medium of gears n ow to be explained. The crank shaft 6 carries a gear 7 and this gear in turn is in mesh with pinions 8 that are carried by the stub'shafts 4. The pinions mesh with a .ring gear v9. Figure 1 shows how vthe ring gear 9 is carried by the housving 10. It will be seen that a rotation ofv the crank shaft l will carry thepinions 8 around therewith, and the pinions meshing with the ring gear 9 will impart a rotative Y l movement to the crank shaft6. Figure 2 shows two pinons 8 as being employed, but

itj is obvious that any number of pinions may be used without departing from' the' spirit and scope of my invention.

The shafts 3 and 6 are suitably mounted in ball-bearing races, these races being designed to permit the rotation of the shafts Scand 6 at high speeds.

From the foregoing description of the various parts of the device( the operation thereof may be readily un erstood. In operation, the auxiliary pro'peller 5 tends to force its way through the air in the same manner as the large propeller, and the force thus created by the auxiliary propeller overcomes the resistance of that portion of the lar e propeller disposed adjacent to the hub. t will therefore be seen that I am making'use of practically the eitire area of the large propeller for pulling the airplane through the air. The smaller propeller is geared u to cause it to operate at its maximum efficiency. The device is extremely simple in construction, and provides a novel means for overcoming the resistance offered by the inactive portion of the large propeller. I It will further be noted in Fi re 2 that additional stub shafts 4 are provi ed and act as spacing members between .the discs 11 and 12. The propeller 5 not only overcom the tween said crank shaft and said hollow shaft and rigidly mounted upon said solid shaft, pinions rotatably disposed between said crank shaft and said hollow shaft, and in mesh with said gear, and means cooperating with said pinions, said gear, and said solid shaft for actuating said auxiliarypropel'ler at a greater speed than said first named propeller when said crank shaft is rotated.

2. The combination with Ya crank shaft, a relatively large propeller, a hollow shaft supporting` said propeller, of a solid shaft disposed in said hollow shaft, a relatively7 small auxiliary propeller carried by saidA solid shaft, said auxiliary vpropeller being disposed in front of said first named propeller and covering the inactive area of said first named'propeller, a gear disposed be"- tween said crank shaft and said hollow shaft and rigidly mounted upon said solid` shaft,

matassa pinions rotatably disposed between' said crank shaft and .said hollow shaft, and in mesh with said gear, and means cooperating with said pinions, said gear, and said solid shaft for actuating said auxiliary propeller at a greater Yspeed than said first named propeller when s aid crank shaft is rotated, said means comprising a ring gear disposed concentric with said crank shaft and in mesh with said pinions.

3. 'lhe combination with a housing, a crank shaft rotatably mounted in said houslng, a relativelylarge propeller, a hollow, shaft supporting said propeller, of a solid shaft disposed in said hollow shaft, a relatively small auxiliary propeller carried bysaid solid shaft, said auxiliary propeller being disposed in front of said lirstnamed propeller and covering the inactive area of said rst named propeller, a gear disposed between said crank shaft and said hollow shaft and rigidly mounted upon said solid shaft,v pinions rotatably disposed between said crank shaft and said hollow shaft and in mesh with said gear, and a ring gear rigidly mounted Within said housing, and in mesh with said pinions, whereby rotation of said crank shaft will cause said solid shaft to rotate in the same direction and at a greater speed than said hollow shaft.

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